Platform Releases and Updates
LandScale is constantly growing and improving. This page gives you an overview of the latest updates and changes. Contact us to find out more.
May 13, 2024
Current version: 2.11
What's New
This update brings a new style to the platform's Explorer, providing a more intuitive and enjoyable way to interact with our content.
- A revamped Explorer, which allows us to highlight the particularities of LandScale's landscapes in an even more engaging way. This new Explorer allows users to dive in and discover all they have to offer.
- New filters have been added to help you find investment opportunities, baseline assessment available, and the landscapes to which they are connected.
- Landscape initiative profiles are now free to anyone working at landscape level
- Landscape initaitive maturity validation against our framework free to anyone working at landscape level
- Improvements to the authentication process: Thanks to an update to our CAPTCHA system, our users can now register quickly and seamlessly.
If you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch with us through the Help Center.
April 26, 2024
Release: Release 2.10
What's New
- Enhanced the notifications button.
- Improved the display speed of gallery images.
- Enabled the input of alphanumeric values in metrics 1.2.1.1, 3.2.1.1, 3.2.3.1, 3.2.2.2.2.1, and 3.2.5.2, considering that their results are qualitative.
- Optimized queries for faster loading of platform pages.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed encryption and decryption errors in the driver.
- Fixed errors in user profile management.
March 5, 2024
Release: 2.08
What's New
- Increased word limit accepted in "About this report."
- Improvements to the formatting of the style of the report builder landing page card.
- Improved saving of changes in the Endnotes section of the report.
- Deactivated automatic reminders of pending issues.
- Optimized image gallery size to reduce loading times. Images are adaptively compressed to enable faster rendering of PDF reports.
- Changes in the validation flow of custom metrics all must be validate.
- Improvements in the display of the step 5 report.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed bugs when creating new Dataset in Step 4
- Fixed bugs by adding a user Assessor Specialist
- Fixed bugs on signing in
- Fixed errors when pasting a screenshot into an issue text box
- Fixed bugs related to downloading the XLSX and result tracker from Step 4 dashboard
January 1, 2024
Release: *
What's New
Happy 2024!
Dear LandScale community,
As we welcome the new year we wanted to wish you a good year full of successes for your colleagues and your landscapes. As you engage with LandScale, don't hesitate to contact us via the Help Desk with any issues or questions, and fill in a survey (on the Help Center, give us your feedback) for any comments and suggestions.
Best wishes,
The LandScale Team
December 4, 2023
Release: 2.07
What's New
New Data Selection Module and Updated Data Resources Library
This update makes the connection to the Data Resource Library more intuitive and enjoyable. It brings a new Data Management Module to streamline the data selection workflow for users and creates tailored data recommendations for your assessment, based on resources from LandScale's Data Resources Library. These improvements optimize the organization and accessibility of data and introduce enhanced features that allow greater flexibility and customization in the management of information:
- New filters that enhance users' ability to refine and customize their searches in the Data Resource Library.
- Improved visibility of the data available in the Data Resource Library and used in assessment.
- Simplify the selection, constraint analysis, and management of data used in assessments.
- The data management module improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the data selection process while enhancing the user experience and ensuring better data management practices. (Data themes are removed).
- The user can add resources if the available ones are not relevant, and these will exist in the data library (privately for the evaluation team or publicly for other users if they choose to share them).
- The suitability analysis is replaced by a shorter and easier-to-complete analysis of the limitations of a resource (dataset) for a specific metric.
- Profile viewers can browse the data resources used, and view the limitations of the datasets used.
If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact us via the Help Center.
This release also includes:
- Added significant improvements in step 5 regarding the construction of the final report: Improvements to the process of linking images from the assessment gallery; incorporated a button to delete endnotes; increased time needed to generate the PDF required by DomPDF.
- Improvements in reopening a step: The specialist can make changes to the information contained in steps 1 and 2 of the assessment if necessary.
- New guidelines have been added on how to describe LandScale and how to accurately use the name and logo.
- The Help desk was separated into two sections, user-reported errors, and automatic errors, to facilitate tracking and management.
- Automatic standardization of text formatting in the text boxes according to predefined settings, ensuring uniformity throughout the system, ensuring consistency, and facilitating editing
November 6, 2023
Release: 2.06
What's New
- New filters are added to improve your ability to find strategic partners.
- Automatic recording platform errors at the Help Desk. This new implementation provides excellent monitoring and tracking capabilities, allowing to detect problems quickly and efficiently, thus improving the user experience.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed bugs in sign-up for new platform user registrations.
- Fixed several minor issues and optimized the platform to ensure more efficient operation.
September 18, 2023
Release: 2.05
What's New
- Added functionality to track number of views and likes of profiles. Users have statistics of number of views and can favorite assessments.
- Improvements in the presentation of metrics results: the categories in the tables are sorted alphabetically, but always leave the Total at the beginning of the list; ii) the users can edit the table headers, as well as deselect/delete them.
- Faster and more timely access to the guidelines library from anywhere on the platform.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed bugs uploading images to the Help Desk in Firefox.
- Fixed bugs in login for result consumer and local reviewer: now the menu shows email and role.
- Fixed profile editing tools for results consumers.
- Fixed regression in new user login.
- Fixed workflow to change password.
September 4, 2023
Release: 2.04
What's New
This update fixes minor issues to improve user experience and landscape profiles. It includes:
- Improvements to the "Add new reference" workflow in Step 2.
- Code enhancements to make it easier for platform managers to track how users interact with the platform.
- Continued profile assessment improvements, these include: appearance of texts, images, graphics, addition of information downloading functionalities .
Bug Fixes
- Bugs in the display of the main menu.
- Issue uploading images in the help desk.
August 20, 2023
Release: 2.03
What's New
We've heard your feedback and made some improvements to our new landscape profiles! You can now:
- Upload banner images to personalize your profile's landing page.
- Add information about your partnership, funding bodies, and any relevant supporting documents.
- Announce that your initiative is actively looking for partners.
- Customize your results page to show 'Featured Results,' selecting your most relevant findings.
- Browse your results and understand them better with our brand-new automated visualizations.
For more information about these profiles, or if you want support setting up your page to showcase your initiative, do not hesitate to get in touch via the Help Center.
This release also includes:
- Rearrangement of the Help Desk to better guide you to available resources.
- Small admin validation interface additions.
- Users can upload a profile photo.
- Access to other Landscale Resources.
Bug Fixes
- Improvements to the validation workflow in Step 4.
- Fixed several minor "Request Changes" pop-up issues for Step 3.
- Improvements to the task "Adjacency Analysis" workflow in Step 2
August 14, 2023
Release: 2.02
What's New
This update improves the user experience. It includes the following new features:
- Workflow enhancements to display assessment validation comments throughout the process.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed issues while uploading images in the help desk.
- Fixes in the style.
- Fixes to workflow in step two.
- Improvements to the data update workflow in step four.
- Fixed minor workflow issues during the creation and validation of data theme and datasets.
June 28, 2023
Release: Release 2.01
What's New
This update brings some data management features to Step 4 to help with understanding and completion of data collection and input.
- A rearrangement of the data menu with search functions that allow users to perform faster and more accurate queries.
- Improvements to the results entry interface. Users can break down their results into thematic and geographic, and select the input unit to better document assessment and validation data and capture information that may be useful for repeat assessments.
Bug Fixes
- Fixes in the new platform style
- Fixes to workflow in step 2.
- Fixed minor workflow issues with displaying feedback throughout the process of validation.
- Code enhancements to add reference URLs to the report in step 5.
- Fixed minor issues of access to links on the platform.
May 24, 2023
Release: 2.0
What's New
This update brings a fresh style to the platform with the aim of providing a more intuitive and enjoyable way to interact with our content. We hope you enjoy exploring the new look and feel of the platform.
- New style applied throughout the platform, including improved workflows.
- A refreshed Results Explorer, allowing us to better showcase LandScale landscapes and viewers to browse what's on. This includes a new landing page that is open to non-registered viewers. Access to detailed assessment results will require registration.
- Tabular view of the landscape profiles and published results.
- Social media integrations: Ability to create and share posts on Twitter, Whatsapp, and email to share a LandScale landscape profile.
- Added #tags in profiles to enable categorization of assessments.
- The listing and presentation of all organizations participating in the assessment have been improved; added "Partner or stakeholder", is a new category of organizations.
- Enhancements to the data resources library. Users can submit data resources and upvote useful datasets. Users will also be able to import datasets during the data collection step 4.
- Admin ability to export user management data.
If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact us via the Help Center.
April 17, 2023
Release: 1.22
What's New
This update improves user experience and profile consistency by standardizing the collection of landscape characteristics on topics such as demographics, land cover and economic activities. It includes the following new features:
- Introduction of the widely used Corine land cover classification system in the entry form filled by users to document land cover classes
- Introduction of the widely recognized International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) in the entry form filled by users to list economic activities
- Entry forms using the FAO World Agricultural Census Programme classification system for documenting traded commodities.
- Standardization of the entry form filled by users to categorize population age groups
- Integration of a pre-populated list of organizations for users to select the organizations leading the assessment
- Local reviewers get a reminder to validate the assessment
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue that made local reviewers non-visible in the platform
March 27, 2023
Release: 1.21
What's New
This update integrates the conflict of interest declaration form for local reviewers to disclose conflict of interest when validating assessments and some improvements through the alerts to have better visibility of the platform tasks.
- Conflict of interest declaration form for local reviewers
- Reminder to validate the assessment
Bug Fixes
- "Data resources library" query enabled.
- The platform allows to upload to CV and other minor changes to the user profile.
- Fixed several minor issues of access to links on the platform.
March 13, 2023
Release: 1.20
What's New
- Added tabs to the video library for easier navigation.
- Improved access for admins to the assessment's reference libraries.
- Creation of a new protocol to restrict the navigation for non-approved users.
Bug Fixes
- Restricted access to documents hosted on the platform.
- Fixed some issues related to the upload of videos to the video library.
March 6, 2023
Release: 1.19
What's New
This update brings a new database of local reviewers to help teams find reviewers in their area, as well as some improvements accross the validation and onboarding of assessments. Some new analytics allow admins to have better visibility of the platform usage.
- Users can see local reviewers registered in the platform through the DB of local reviewers.
- Added a color legend to indicate status of the reviewed metrics in the validation screens.
- Restricted access to LandScale guidelines to ensure only registered users can access them.
- Added some minor improvements to the new Onboarding - minor improvement on review process and visualization form
- Added some improvements to the new assessment onbaording interface.
- Automated email notifications alert reviewers of published metrics.
- New filters for admin in data analytics.
- Basic area statistics by continent and country available from the admin data analytics module.
- Admin users can export assessment boundary files (shapefile format).
Bug Fixes
- Users have better visibility of attachments related to datasets during validation.
- Fixed some issues around the nomination of the local reviewer.
February 20, 2023
Release: 1.18.0
What's New
This update brings all of our users a brand new effort tracker interface, to help teams measure and record the time spent on each stage of the LandScale journey. We have also created simplified interface for new assessment applications, ensuring the process of signing up and finding out more about LandScale is easier and faster, and an admin analytics dashboard to help us better understand the system.
- Collaborative effort tracker tool in the assessment dashboard.
- Registration of new assessments (step 0) is shorter and requires less navigation across screens.
- Administrator analytics.
Bug Fixes
We have also amended our Privacy Policy to reflect the latest changes in the platform. Read it here or find it at any time in the Guidelines Library.
February 14, 2023
Release: 1.17.0
What's New
We are working to bring better support to you, our current users. We are adapting the platform to better support LandScale v0.2 users (as well as future versions), we have created an in-platform tutorial to help local reviewers navigate the platform, and we are rolling out satisfaction surveys to give you a chance to give us feedback.
- Users can now choose to use the LandScale Framework v0.2 during step 3.
- Local reviewers have a walkthrough tutorial of the platform interface.
- Surveys are available for users to report their satisfaction with LandScale (find them at any time in the HelpCenter: Tell us about your experience).
- The onboarding process for new assessment applications has been simplified to save new proponets time and effort.
January 30, 2023
Release: 1.16.0
What's New
A brand new user role has been added: users can now register to act as local reviewers for LandScale assessments. Reviewers will have access to a full range of help resources and an easy workflow to complete any reviews they are assigned to. This update will allow reviewers and assessment team members to connect and work together, to ensure highly trusted results.
- Functionality to nominate new or existing reviewers to verify your assessment results.
- Users can register as reviewers for new assessments.
- Implemented the local review workflow to verify on a metric basis the results reported by the assessment team.
- Local reviewers can log in, see outstanding reviews and conduct evaluations on assigned metrics.
- LandScale admins can fully support assessment teams and reviewers throughout this process.
If you have any questions or to find out more, drop us a question via the Help Desk!
November 14, 2022
Release: 1.13.1
What's New
Improved user management for LandScale admins
Bug Fixes
Help Desk minor fix - related to the modals to view issues
October 28, 2022
Release: 1.13.0
What's New
This version contains a redesign of the menus and lots (yes, lots!) of help features within the platform that will accelerate resolution of queries and problems.
- A redesigned main menu, includes shortcuts to your ongoing assessments.
- A brand new Help Center, with quick access to assessment feedback, guidelines and other resource libraries, issue reporting and ways to contact the LandScale team.
- A library of Data Resources contains over 130 organisations, tools and datasets that will help assessment teams find suitable information during their LandScale journey.
- An improved Help Desk to manage conversations with the LandScale team will ensure that all queries are resolved promptly, and that you can find all your answers in one place.
- A Frequently Asked Questions page will help resolve common questions.
- A series of walkthrough Interactive Tutorials will guide you through the main platform interfaces, whether you're a new user or a veteran, these tutorials can show you what's new and how to navigate the platform.
- As a last resort, we have integrated with state-of-the-art software to create a Meeting Scheduler that can be used to request 1:1 support from the LandScale team in just a few clicks.
October 24, 2022
Release: 1.12.0
What's New
- Specialist Assessors are able to request changes in completed assessment steps.
Bug Fixes
- Solved issue when users add milestones with decimal values in step 3.
- Indicators and metrics will lock in step 3 when they are already validated in step 4. Users can add, delete or modify metrics and indicators that have not been validated in step 4.
September 26, 2022
Release: 1.11.0
What's New
- Pop-up notifications will keep users up to date with platform updates and changes.
Bug Fixes
- Format correction for appendices created during Step 5.
- Fix to ensure consistency of category units when working with spatial disaggregation.
September 12, 2022
Release: 1.10.0
What's New
- Ad hoc inclusion of new documents on some landscape profiles.
- Include a detailed map of the area for landscape profiles and during Step 4.
- Ability to edit and delete help desk query replies.
- New administrator functionality to collect all feedback history per assessment and step.
- Added restrictions on assessment team invitations.
- Administrator improvements to help desk.
- Re-ordering the guidelines library into languages and categories.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed faulty dependency between steps 3 and 4 when Step 3 has not been approved.
- Hide elements from the guidelines when they don't have associated files.
- Added link to LandScale guidelines from the help section of Step 5.
- Restricted acess to archived documents.
- Improvements to user notifications, notifications now disappear when acknoledged.
August 5, 2022
Release: 1.9.1
Bug Fixes
- Fix issues when creating LandScale emails.
- Fix issues when reopening Step 3.
- Some fixes to the profile.
July 26, 2022
Release: 1.9.0
What's New
Major update to enforce security and reduce potential threats on the platform.
July 7, 2022
Release: 1.8.0
What's New
- Improvements in the way .geojson and other shapefile formats are handled in the platform
- New functionality added to the main assessment dashboard to filter assessments by multiple criteria.
June 7, 2022
Release: 1.7.0
What's New
- Automation of record keeping for assessments and notifications to owners of expiring assessments.
- Brand new video library gallery for users to access extra support. Videos in the library include platform demos and specific instructions for tricky steps. A full platform training course will be added in the fall.
June 2, 2022
Release: 1.6.0
What's New
Enhancements of LandScale administrator functions. Ensures users get better support throughout the assessment process.
May 25, 2022
Release: 1.5.0
What's New
Improvements in the platform emailing system, this update includes a background integration with an external secure mailing system.
May 23, 2022
Release: 1.4.0
What's New
Major changes in step 5, includes updated instructions and an enhanced approval process.
May 10, 2022
Release: 1.3.0
What's New
- Improvements to the user Help Desk.
- New functionality to implement the second review of Step 4.
April 14, 2022
Release: 1.2.0
What's New
- Major changes to LandScale profiles.
- Users can now include appendices to their assessment report.
April 13, 2022
Release: 1.1.0
What's New
The assessment team has the ability to modify previously approved steps.
March 31, 2022
Release: 1.0.0
What's New
This release extends assessment workflow functionality to include steps 4 and 5.
November 9, 2021
Release: 1.0 alpha 1.
What's New
This is the first release of the LandScale platform. Includes full functionality of steps 0-3.